Saturday 23rd October – Global Care Rukingiri
We met for breakfast at 8am, most having slept very well after the journey of yesterday. Over breakfast Sheila regaled us with the story of her early morning shower. She had gone into the bathroom, turned the tap on for the shower and the tap came off in her hand and water shot out of the open pipework across the room. She then stood there for an hour with her finger stuck on the end of the pipe waiting until she heard sounds of others getting up and she could shout for help. The guest house manager was a bit bemused, asking her why she didn’t just come out of the room, close the door and call for help – “I couldn’t waste all that water”
After breakfast we set about sorting the cases and boxes so that we could take the things destined for Global Care Rukingiri to the centre. Once it was all pulled together there was an impressive collection containing – tools, stationery, the generator, two cement mixers (more about that later), clothes and some beekeeping equipment and training manuals.
Time keeping and punctuality is not a strength of the Ugandan character, so if something is arranged for ‘Ugandan Time’ it means that time plus an hour or so. So at 10.30, Ugandan time, it had been arranged for Rev Moses and Moses B to meet us and ’officially’ welcome us to Rukingiri. Rev Moses duly gave us a very, very warm welcome and was looking forward to showing us the work that is done here in Rukingiri.
Rev Moses had been on the local radio telling people about our visit and inviting children to come to the local church hall at 3pm to meet us. He was expecting between 50 & 80 children. With that information Barbara and Rachel set about getting the games and craft things into a case allowing for 90 – 100 children.
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We visited the ‘old’ Global Care office, which is a converted Chicken shed. By its nature it is a small cramped facility with no facility to hold a gathering of children. We then walked the 300m to the new Global Care building. What a fantastic facility, so much done with the limited available funds. Offices, secure storeroom and accommodation for Moses B and his family and that would have the added benefit of not needing to employ overnight security guards.
The location is beautiful with views across the valley to mountains in the distance, banana plantation, vegetable plots and Rev Moses’ Bee house. A shed, made of mud and straw, containing about ten beehives. The hives themselves made of straw and shaped as logs.
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A number of us were able to meet our sponsored children as they had come to the church hall to be part of the fun. This is always a moving occasion for both sponsor and child.
The ‘party’ ended at 5pm as a number of the children had travelled a long way to be there and had to be able to get back home before it got dark, around 7pm.
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Outside the hall, as people left, we continued to entertain the children by showing them how to blow bubbles.
Later Dr Tom had the opportunity to talk with Rev Moses about HIV in the area and the facilities available for testing and treating people.
Over dinner we had the opportunity to talk with each other about our experiences and what we were feeling.
Tomorrow we will be going to the local Church of Uganda for Sunday service and after that some painting at the new Global Care centre.
A wonderful, rewarding day, meeting the children and starting to get involved. Lots to think about as we fall asleep this evening.
We met for breakfast at 8am, most having slept very well after the journey of yesterday. Over breakfast Sheila regaled us with the story of her early morning shower. She had gone into the bathroom, turned the tap on for the shower and the tap came off in her hand and water shot out of the open pipework across the room. She then stood there for an hour with her finger stuck on the end of the pipe waiting until she heard sounds of others getting up and she could shout for help. The guest house manager was a bit bemused, asking her why she didn’t just come out of the room, close the door and call for help – “I couldn’t waste all that water”
After breakfast we set about sorting the cases and boxes so that we could take the things destined for Global Care Rukingiri to the centre. Once it was all pulled together there was an impressive collection containing – tools, stationery, the generator, two cement mixers (more about that later), clothes and some beekeeping equipment and training manuals.
Time keeping and punctuality is not a strength of the Ugandan character, so if something is arranged for ‘Ugandan Time’ it means that time plus an hour or so. So at 10.30, Ugandan time, it had been arranged for Rev Moses and Moses B to meet us and ’officially’ welcome us to Rukingiri. Rev Moses duly gave us a very, very warm welcome and was looking forward to showing us the work that is done here in Rukingiri.
Rev Moses had been on the local radio telling people about our visit and inviting children to come to the local church hall at 3pm to meet us. He was expecting between 50 & 80 children. With that information Barbara and Rachel set about getting the games and craft things into a case allowing for 90 – 100 children.
.JPG)
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We visited the ‘old’ Global Care office, which is a converted Chicken shed. By its nature it is a small cramped facility with no facility to hold a gathering of children. We then walked the 300m to the new Global Care building. What a fantastic facility, so much done with the limited available funds. Offices, secure storeroom and accommodation for Moses B and his family and that would have the added benefit of not needing to employ overnight security guards.
The location is beautiful with views across the valley to mountains in the distance, banana plantation, vegetable plots and Rev Moses’ Bee house. A shed, made of mud and straw, containing about ten beehives. The hives themselves made of straw and shaped as logs.
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There was another torrential rainstorm, the red earth roads turning into rivers of very slippery mud.
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We went to the church hall to meet the children and as we entered we were greeted to a standing ovation with cheers and clapping from a gathering of about 120 children and 50 parents. A fantastic welcome. However……Barbara and Rachel looked around the hall in disbelief, they only had enough stuff for about 100 children and there was no floor space left to do any of the activities as it was covered with smiling faces looking up at them. Not to worry we managed and soon the children were colouring in hats, bookmarks and pictures, a hive of activity. The parents, sitting at the back of the hall, watching with great interest. We ended the session with singing, the highlight being “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and toes…” which had all the children were howling with laughter, this rose to new levels when we got the parents to join in as well. GREAT fun.
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We went to the church hall to meet the children and as we entered we were greeted to a standing ovation with cheers and clapping from a gathering of about 120 children and 50 parents. A fantastic welcome. However……Barbara and Rachel looked around the hall in disbelief, they only had enough stuff for about 100 children and there was no floor space left to do any of the activities as it was covered with smiling faces looking up at them. Not to worry we managed and soon the children were colouring in hats, bookmarks and pictures, a hive of activity. The parents, sitting at the back of the hall, watching with great interest. We ended the session with singing, the highlight being “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and toes…” which had all the children were howling with laughter, this rose to new levels when we got the parents to join in as well. GREAT fun.
.JPG)
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.JPG)
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A number of us were able to meet our sponsored children as they had come to the church hall to be part of the fun. This is always a moving occasion for both sponsor and child.
The ‘party’ ended at 5pm as a number of the children had travelled a long way to be there and had to be able to get back home before it got dark, around 7pm.
.JPG)
Outside the hall, as people left, we continued to entertain the children by showing them how to blow bubbles.
Later Dr Tom had the opportunity to talk with Rev Moses about HIV in the area and the facilities available for testing and treating people.
Over dinner we had the opportunity to talk with each other about our experiences and what we were feeling.
Tomorrow we will be going to the local Church of Uganda for Sunday service and after that some painting at the new Global Care centre.
A wonderful, rewarding day, meeting the children and starting to get involved. Lots to think about as we fall asleep this evening.
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